Editor\u2019s note: The Erie Town Council had decided to continue a discussion about the town manager in a special meeting scheduled for Feb. 17. The below story was prepared before the meeting, for the Daily Camera\u2019s print issue. The Camera may publish more coverage of this topic this week.<\/p>\n
The Erie Town Council has been discussing Malcolm Fleming\u2019s position as town manager after Mayor Andrew Moore called for a change in leadership, prompting a divided response among council members.<\/p>\n
The town manager serves at the will of the council, meaning council members would need to vote to amend, continue or terminate Fleming\u2019s contract, according to town spokesperson Gabi Rae. Fleming previously served as Louisville\u2019s city manager for\u00a0about 10 years before joining Erie, according to his LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n
The Feb. 10 discussion around Fleming\u2019s contract was scheduled as an executive session, a type of meeting that is closed to the public. But Councilmember Emily Baer asked that the discussion be held in a public session instead. Fleming agreed to make the discussion public.<\/p>\n
Because the discussion was brought into a public forum, council members could have voted on whether to continue or end Fleming\u2019s contract at that meeting, Rae said. But several council members said they had not had enough time to review Fleming\u2019s most recent performance evaluation, which they received that afternoon.<\/p>\n
The council ultimately decided to continue the discussion in a special meeting on Feb. 17. It was scheduled as an executive session.<\/p>\n
Mayor suggests leadership change<\/p>\n
In an email sent to council members the day before the Feb. 10 meeting, Moore wrote that he had raised the topic of \u201cmoving in a new leadership direction\u201d during a Dec. 16 executive session and believed it needed to be revisited. Moore read the email aloud during the Feb. 10 public meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognize that I caught the council off guard in December when I raised the topic of moving in a new leadership direction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Moore\u2019s email said while Fleming has \u201cawesome strengths,\u201d he also has \u201ccritical gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve concluded that it is time for a change at the top,\u201d Moore read. \u201cSomeone who would bring a new energy to set a new vision grounded in our (town) survey, comprehensive plan and council input.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moore accused Fleming of \u201cleadership by omission,\u201d referring to staff\u2019s handling of town matters including a $19 million parks and open space facility proposed by staff, as well as details about a lawsuit regarding the Red Tail Ranch property, brought by a developer against the town after a proposal for a residential neighborhood was denied. He also brought up the exclusion of town volunteers from a holiday party in December.<\/p>\n
Councilmember John Mortellaro echoed concerns about Fleming\u2019s communication, and Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell said there were some topics he would rather not discuss in a public format.<\/p>\n
Bell also said he did not believe Fleming had committed a \u201cterminable offense\u201d and that he would \u201cbe perfectly happy to to continue working with\u201d Fleming if that was the outcome chosen by the council.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been struggles in that relationship between mayor and town manager,\u201d Bell said, adding: \u201cUsually in these situations, one person\u2019s never 100% right and one person\u2019s never 100% wrong.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Performance evaluation<\/p>\n
Other council members pushed back on the timing of the discussion.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, I like to make a decision like this with all the information and be able to absorb it,\u201d Councilmember Brian O\u2019Connor said in the Feb. 10 meeting. \u201cWith us only getting the 360 performance evaluation this afternoon, I haven\u2019t even had a chance to open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilmember Dan Hoback criticized the timing as well, calling it \u201cincredibly inappropriate\u201d that council received the evaluation the same day as the scheduled discussion.<\/p>\n
Hoback said the performance review included broad praise for Fleming\u2019s leadership along with some areas for improvement, with Hoback describing it as \u201ca very good review.\u201d He also pointed to contract negotiations that last year reduced Fleming\u2019s potential severance from 12 months to six months in order for him to receive a 6% pay increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been sort of a target on Malcolm\u2019s back,\u201d Hoback said, adding: \u201cIt was reflected in last year\u2019s negotiation only a month or two into this administration.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Anonymous comment<\/p>\n
Baer said she was frustrated by Moore\u2019s renewed push for a leadership change after what she described as prior council direction in December not to move forward with that path.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a council-representative democracy,\u201d Baer said during the Feb. 10 meeting. \u201cThat\u2019s not how this works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilmember Anil Pesaramelli added that any decision should be tied to measurable\u00a0goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all looks like you want a \u2018yes man\u2019 and you\u2019re not finding it here,\u201d Pesaramelli said.<\/p>\n
Pesaramelli read from Fleming\u2019s evaluation an anonymous comment from a respondent that said: \u201cThe mayor screams at Malcolm and is very degrading to him. The mayor also speaks poorly of other staff and other council members. Staff can hear the mayor yelling at Malcolm through the walls even when the door is closed.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Input on the \u201c360\u201d evaluation had representation from the Town Council and some staff, including the two deputy town managers, according to Rae.)<\/p>\n
Moore disputed those points.<\/p>\n
Responding to the anonymous comment, Baer said: \u201cI believe this is a pattern of behavior.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been my experience as well,\u201d Baer added.<\/p>\n
Near the end of the meeting, Moore said: \u201cYou\u2019ve seen me get passionate when I have excitement or when people lie \u2026 I understand though on the other side \u2026 that I need to temper that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: The Erie Town Council had decided to continue a discussion about the town manager in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1675,1676,6838,136,138,137,1677,241,139,50,1680],"class_list":{"0":"post-116626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-erie","8":"tag-boulder-county","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-east-county","11":"tag-erie","12":"tag-erie-headlines","13":"tag-erie-news","14":"tag-front-range","15":"tag-latest-headlines","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-weld-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}